12 rebels die in Colombian air strike

Colombia: Twelve leftist guerrillas were killed on Tuesday in an air strike in northern Colombia.

The joint operation was carried out by the air force and the navy in the Montes de Maria region. Six rebels were captured.

"At four in the morning today, 12 bandits were killed and six captured," President Alvaro Uribe said at a public event in Bogota. Two aides of a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were among the dead.
The FARC, founded in 1964, is Colombia`s largest leftist guerrilla group. It has an estimated 17,000 fighters. The Uribe administration has made fighting the FARC a top priority.